Gaaah! Kill It With Fire!

So there you are, innocently suveying the ocean floor using one of those nifty remote-controlled unmanned submarines. At the end of the long day, quittin' time rolls around, and you reel the machine back in. And then you discover that it has acquired a passenger, and the passenger is one of these:

Photo: Gwynzer. Click to embiggen.

I mean look at that thing! It's three times the size of Nefertiti! And its feet - that monstrosity could seriously injure you by stabbing you with its feet!! Think about that for a sec - its legs, of which it has far too many, end in seriously sharp points!! And it's wearing armour!! What the hell, Earth's Oceans, what the hell?!

Ahem.

Anyway, it's a fairly common critter, a species of giant isopod which scurries about the ocean floor, feeding on large dead things and slow live ones. Its scientific name is Bathynomus Giganteus.

For the record, I think it's about the niftiest thing I've seen all day. And I am so making a D&D monster out of it.

Yay! Inventory All Done!

Many a book, pen, and doodad with the University crest on it has been counted in the last couple of days, I can tell you... And it went very smoothly, all-in all. Anyway, more on that later.

In the meantime, some inventory-done celebratory music is in order! Here's "Devil's Dance Floor" by Flogging Molly, with penguins dancing to it. That should about do the trick.

It's Spelled C-O-P-Y-R-I-G-H-T

This actually happened a couple of months ago, during the height of the textbook rush. I had spotted a customer who seemed in need of some assistance, so I sauntered up to him, and the resulting dialogue went like this:

Me: Can I help you with anything?

Him: Yeah, is this the textbook for [course number]?

Me: It is.

Him: Ok, how much is it?

Me: It's $98.50.

[Long pause]

Him: Ok. Um, so is there a photocopier in the bookstore that I can use for awhile?

The funny thing was, he was dead serious. He could not understand why I would not let him simply photocopy his textbook rather than buy it.